ADAPTATION OF FOODS TO SOIL, ETC. 61 
and Carolina rails. The grass and sedge family con- 
tribute a goodly share to cover, and many birds are 
tempted to drop in to find a roosting place. All kinds 
of water lilies—white, yellow and red—form excellent 
shelter in open water; nearly all ducks like to drift 
among them when found near their playgrounds, es- 
pecially in windy and rough weather. 
The various species of frogbit, duck and pond weed 
are peculiarly adapted to slow waters, as lakes, 
sloughs and ponds, entrances of channels, ditches 
where shallow water abounds, for many of them are 
partly or entirely submerged; they grow best in a 
dark, murky soil and spread rapidly where water exists 
all through the year. 
The lay of the country, the position of the ground, 
the state they are in and many other surroundings 
have to be taken into consideration, all of which can 
be determined only by knowledge and experience of 
every duck and its habits, its food, which should be 
determined by dissection, together with an acquaint- 
ance of the peculiar growth, manner of planting and 
collecting of the various foods and the soils adapted 
to their growth and culture; a knowledge of which 
would amply repay all duck hunters, and, if applied, 
would render many grounds more attractive and in- 
duce the birds to return in greater numbers. 
Probably one of the best examples of the effects of 
drainage, resulting from cultivation and settlement, 
can be found in the state of Illinois. During the early 
seventies the above state, with the adjoining one of 
Indiana, furnished the highways of all the large flights 
east of the Mississippi River, with the exception of 
